accidents over the years. do you think it's safe? >> no. it's not safe. >> reporter: what about the drivers? are they paying attention? >> well, most the drivers don't care. >> reporter: since el camino real is a state highway, only caltrans can make changes to the roadway or the crosswalks. caltrans was sued after the 2006 accident and paid damages to the victim's family but in he remembers it improving in terms of improving safety, they painted marks on the road. this person feels it's not enough. >> it's scary because sometimes you're like right in the middle and like one car stops and there's like the next one just keeps going. >> reporter: now, the city of millbrae does not have the ability to make any kind of changes to this state road but it is the city not caltrans that put up this little flashing sign to at least do something to try to help the pedestrians. we did reach out to the district headquarters of caltrans today with some specific questions about all of this and so far, we have not

received a reply. reporting live from millbrae, i'm mark sayre, cbs 5. the chp says it's busted three of the carquinez bridge bandits. they are accused in a rash of robberies on the bridge earlier this year. investigators say the men would pull up in stolen cars wearing masks and then demand cash from the tolltakers. >> they would approach the toll plaza and either demand money, show a weapon, sometimes not and then just flee on interstate 80. >> surveillance video and other evidence ties the trio to at least three heists according to police. but they think there could be more bridge bandits out there. other bay area headlines. traffic on the san mateo bridge just reopened after a crash in just the last hour. live pictures now of eastbound traffic. the accident itself not so bad but traffic backed up for miles as crews cleaned up the mess. a hit-and-run driver who struck an oakland police

officer last night is still on the loose. it happened around 11:00 last night near 6th and washington. police tell us the officer wasn't seriously hurt but the driver could face charges. a geyser of water shooting out of this fire hydrant closed a main entrance to the bay bridge this morning. san francisco police say a driver slammed into the fire hydrant at folsom and essex. apparently the man didn't stop as police tried to pull him over. he was taken to the hospital and then arrested. oakland has failed to reform its police department. even though it worked out a deal avoid a full federal takeover, it has become the first in the nation to surrender part of its command to a court-appointed compliance director. cbs 5 reporter da lin on what happens next. >> that agreement in my opinion is going to be absolutely worse for the oakland police department to be able to function. >> reporter: oakland mayor jean quan and police chief howard jordan did not want to talk about the partial federal

takeover. but councilman ignacio de la fuente says the arrangement creates too many restrictions on police officers to fight crime. >> police got have the ability to use what they learn in order to identify people before they commit crimes. >> reporter: the compliance director would be able to punish and fire the police chief and the command staff. civil rights attorney john burris says that person is basically the chief of the police chief. >> this is a game changer in many ways, and so it should be felt all the way down to the officers on the street. >> reporter: burris insists the compliance director will not direct officers on how to did their jobs on a daily basis. but instead, they will set policies to prevent police abuse, excessive force complaints and cut down on officer-involved shooting cases. one councilwoman says what oakland needs is a new leader at the police department. she is disappointed that the compliance director will prior to neither new crime-fighting

strategies nor new leadership. >> the fact that we have people dying every few days in the city of oakland is a problem. >> reporter: a federal judge will have to sign off on the compliance director and he also gets to pick the person. civil rights attorney john burris says he wants to recommend a former police chief who has experience in dealing with the justice department to serve as compliance director. he wants someone with experience in reform. all sides say it's too early to name a potential candidate. in oakland, i'm da lin. cbs 5. tonight more talks, some traveling and still a chance our country could go over the so-called "fiscal cliff." top economists showed up at the capital today for further talks about the impact of tax increases and government spending cuts on the middle class. from a home in virginia president obama sat with a middle class family he says will be hit hard if congress doesn't extend middle class tax

cuts. >> for them to be burden unthis isly because democrats and republicans aren't coming together to solve this problem gives you a sense of the costs involved in very personal terms. >> republicans are standing behind their counter-offer to close tax loopholes and limit some deductions. they say the president needs to deliver a new plan they can agree on before the january 1 deadline. stocks inched up as investors kept and eye on washington. the dow was up around 40, nasdaq up 16, s&p saw a 5 point increase. the dungeness crab season has hit a snag. local crabbers are refusing to fish for the northern california delicacy after a new price fight with the wholesalers. the cbs 5 reporter anne makovec shows us the solidarity on the docks is being tested. >> strike last year this boat. >> right. >> well, you got go fishing. nobody is making money. >> you got go fishing. >> reporter: tensions are high on pier 45 where a lone crab

boat came in this morning. a strike has all of the others docked. >> we're tied up negotiating with the processors. >> reporter: it's a dispute over the price of fresh dungeness crab. wholesalers and fishermen had agreed on $3 a pound at the start of the season in november. but demand went down after thanksgiving. so wholesalers want to pay a quarter to 75 cents less. the crab boat association says no deal. >> there's not that much crab left out there. we took a big whack out of it. so it should be worth as much or more than we got paid before. >> reporter: this boat which locals call a "scab" came from oregon. >> trying to keep things going. >> reporter: in the meantime things are come to a standstill at local fish markets. >> bad for business. >> reporter: this shop has only frozen crabs in stock. alioto's has an extra tankful of fresh ones but is running out quickly and fears having to turn customers away. >> it's hard, you know, because, you know, that's what this city is world famous for is the dungeness crab. like going to vegas and you

can't gamble. >> reporter: on the pier though, it's more like washington, d.c. tied up in politics. >> trying to hold out for a price that we can afford going fishing forces. >> reporter: as negotiations continue and those who cross the picket line face the ire of the rest. >> that's everything that's wrong with this industry. >> we are going fishing. >> reporter: the crab season in oregon is expected to open next week bringing some extra inventory back down here it california. from all the predictions i've heard this should be worked out by christmas. in san francisco, anne makovec, cbs 5. new at 5:00 more drama surrounding software pioneer john mcafee. his heart isn't as strong as his resolve. the 67-year-old suffered a couple of mild heart attacks after being arrested in guatemala. he was taken from jail to the hospital a day after they refused to give him asylum.

authorities in belize want to talk to him about the murder of a neighbor. god was looking over. that's all i can say. >> a california woman stranded in the snow and cold for days survives. the hunch her brother had that led him straight to her. >> we got rid of the rainfall. but we did not get rid of the cloud cover. here's a peek outside right now mainly cloudy over the bay bridge. i'll explain where those clouds came from and how it's going to impact your forecast tomorrow. that's next. >> and a major milestone in the construction of the new 49ers stadium. mobile5 is there for the big moment. dr ,,,,,,,,

paula lane and her boyfrien, roderick clifton disappeared new details tonight about a dramatic story of survival in the sierra. paula lane and her boyfriend rodrick clifton disappeared a week ago having gone off roading in their four-wheel drive car near highway 88. ben sosenko is live with what happened when a snowstorm hit

and how the woman managed to survive. ben. >> reporter: elizabeth, amazingly paula lane is expected to survive in the hospital in carson city. her doctors says he is not sure how much longer she would have survived in the snow. [ woman crying ] >> gave her the biggest kiss that i could without hurting her. >> reporter: linda says it's a miracle her sister survived. paula lane spent 6 nights stranded in the elements surviving on snow and tomatoes. >> my sister may be little, but she's mighty. she's a survivor and she loves life. >> reporter: last thursday she and her boyfriend rod were on the way back to nevada from citrus heights. their jeep got stuck in the snow. rod left to find help but never returned. a day later paula went looking, too. >> it's been awful waiting all those days trying know if she made it or not. >> reporter: rod didn't survive. and time was running out for

paula. last night, paula's family told her twin sons their mother may not be coming home. but shortly after that, her brother found paula in the snowy wilderness. >> when that call came from my brother, it was a miracle. >> reporter: incredibly, paula not only survived but is expected to fully recover from nothing more than severe than minor frostbite. >> she was one very lucky person. i don't know what she did, what footwear she had, god's good grace, but she was lucky it wasn't more severe. >> reporter: physically she will be fine but her doctor says her psychological healing will take longer after a week- long nightmare. she will recover with an extremely thankful and loving family by her side. >> and last night when my brother called, i took the call, and to hear him say, i found her, i found her, i -- i can't explain it for you guys. [ crying ] >> reporter: and paula is

expected to be released from the hospital next week. her family tells us that she wants to tell her story. live in carson city, ben sosenko, cbs 5. a new lawsuit is taking aim at what one group says are dangerous chemicals in products for infants and children. the center for environmental health in oakland filed suit. the group says baby products sold in major retail, contain unsafe levels of a flame retardant called trss. the legal move is a good way to get the company's attention. >> we now have opened a dialogue and let them know we'll have legal standing in 60 days to sue them if they don't take action. what we frequently see happens is companies in those 60 days call us say hey, let's figure this out. >> he also says studies have shown children have the highest levels of flame retardant this is their bodies. a dream house turns into a nightmare for one bay area woman. the unwanted houseguest that infested that home and their fight with the landlord to clean you the mess.

-- to clean up the mess. then the major milestone at the 49ers new santa clara stadium. mobile5 is live next. ,,,,,,,,,,,,

this afternoon. ken bastida is live with moe 5 to explain. ken? it's still far from finished but the 49er new stadium in santa clara hit a high point this afternoon. ken bastida live with mobile5 to show us. >> reporter: a real milestone,

allen. you know, this stadium has been under construction for about 7 months now. believe it or not, it's about 30% finished. 16,000 steel beams put in place already. but none more important than the two that went up today. this is about 500 construction workers who showed up today to sign two special beams painted gold that were put atop this structure. they were put in place this afternoon. and the santa clara mayor jamie matthews told us that they had something special at the top as well a christmas tree and a very interesting american flag. >> the topping off ceremony will include a small christmas tree on top and i think that's so appropriate. i know that i feel just a great amount of patriotism when i see the american flag here. with all these american steelworkers with all this american steel behind me, but when i see that christmas tree it's going to be an early

christmas present to everyone that's here that worked on it. >> yeah. >> reporter: so check this out. this is going on every day something new. these are the light standards that will be going up. these things are massive. there's ten of these huge steel, uhm, contraptions that will be raised a death-defying 195 feet up the top of the stadium. that will be happening in the next several weeks. and you will be able to go to a night game here eventually. reporting live from santa clara in mobile5, ken bastida, back to you. a bay area family rented a mouse-infested house for months. they tried to getter that landlord, a company that buys up foreclosed homes to do something about it. cbs 5 consumerwatch reporter julie watts explains, their case has forced changes companywide. reporter: >> this is our dream house. >> reporter: but that dream soon turned into a nightmare for christie meredith and her family. >> usually there are droppings on the stove. three to four mice a day. >> reporter: most of them in

the kitchen but also in the den and bathroom. >> my son is terrified. he is only 3. why should he have to live like this. >> reporter: the landlord touts great customer service but the merediths say despite more than a dozen calls and e-mails, way point has done nothing. >> anytime i would call them for a problem they would just blow me off. >> sounds like it particular infestation is really bad. >> reporter: tenant rights lawyer says you have recourse if your landlord ignores any serious problem. >> contact the local authorities. >> reporter: depending on the issue it's usually the building or health department. >> they will pressure the landlord. not only will they be responsible for penalties, payable to the tenants but they will be responsible for penalties payable to the city if they don't make the repairs. >> reporter: but you may have to complain a couple of times to be heard. if that fails it may be time to call a lawyer. instead, meredith called consumerwatch and we contacted way point which admits, quote,

we clearly failed to meet miss meredith's expectations as well as our own. words the merediths have been waiting six months to hear. now, the law does allow to you make repairs and then deduct the cost from your rent. but that could be risky because landlords can then sue you for nonpayment. tonight they say they have reached a, quote, satisfactory resolution with way point. and way point says it's implementing changes to improve communications with tenants. remember, if you have a consumer problem, shoot us an email. >> it works. >> it does. >> in this case. all right. thank you. paul, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse except to that mouse and all his friends. >> you can find a segue in almos anything. amazing. he's here all week. here's a peek outside. hopefully no mice or rain in your forecast. it was very cloudy and the most cloud cover that we had was inland. there's a definitive reason for that. i'll explain coming up in a

second. our dublin cam, it's still cloudy out there. many of you didn't hit 60 inland. santa rosa around 53. it didn't rain which is rare. it has rained in the bay area. 12 of the past 20 days. but now we are in a dry pattern. hi-def doppler no rainfall on it nor do we expect any for the next five days. i do expect it to be chilly tonight. mid-40s for free. low 40s in napa. we'll be talking about fog. 40s in fremont. cloud cover all day long in the central valley. when that low cloud cover moves into the bay area we call it tule fog and we'll see that once again tonight. that's the source of our low cloud cover during the day. it will be the source of our fog coming up tomorrow morning. so fog and low cloud cover especially inland closer to the central valley coming up tomorrow morning. once that fog burns off we get back to high pressure. high pressure will be here for five straight days will be sunny and dry through the week

and i know you have a long christmas or holiday shopping list. you will have ample opportunity to get outside on saturday and sunday. whether it's the indoor mall or walking up and down main street. foggy tonight especially inland. this pattern will be mainly dry in the weekend saturday and sunday both look fantastic. we'll start off with your friday. highs tomorrow low 60s. concord cool above average 4 degrees about normal and san francisco and oakland 62 or 63. santa clara sunshine especially in the afternoon 64. san ramon 62. benicia 61. santa rosa 63. and sausalito tomorrow 61 degrees. what a nice weekend! low to mid-60s, mainly sunny skies. the winning streak will continuing on monday and tuesday. a slight chance of a couple of showers but it will definitively be cooler by next wednesday and next thursday. it is the holiday season, one sure sign of the holiday season are all these tree lighting ceremonies. roberta gonzales is live at one tonight. >> reporter: yes.

mobile weather, live at golden gate park for san francisco rec and park district 83rd annual christmas tree lighting. this is the city of san francisco's official christmas tree. in fact, it's dark right now. it's back there. it's a monterey cypress planted over 100 years ago by john mclaren. in fact, he was the very first superintendent of san francisco rec and park district. this entire area that we're at right now is called mclaren lodge. it's in the middle of golden gate partnering. tonight coming park. tonight at 6:00 mayor lee will flip the switch on 550 multicolored lights adorning this tree and 2,000 kids are expected to be out here, as well. certainly the holidays are well under way in san francisco. reporting from golden gate park, roberta gonzales, cbs 5. >> looks like fun. >> that thing stopped just in time. >> i know, right. >> kind of going whoa! >> weather is going to be perfect tonight. >> thanks. a new meningitis concern has health officials urging

certain people to get vaccinated before heading to new york. what's happening on the east coast that has people worried here. ,,

♪ secondhand smoke affects everyone's health. it's not just irritating. it can cause heart disease and even death. speak up about secondhand smoke. your health and the health of your family depend on it.

just announced a new recommendation for the meningitis vaccine. th people travelin public health officials in san francisco have just announced a new recommendation for the meningitis vaccine. in fact they are asking certainly people traveling to new york to consider getting vaccinated first. dr. kim mulvihill has the story. reporter: just in time for the holidays, a public health advisory in new york city. an increase of serious me ming cockell disease. >> gay men who have met men online they are requesting that those men receive vaccine in new york city. >> reporter: while there is no outbreak of meningitis in san francisco, public health officials want people to be aware because there's so much travel between the two cities. >> if gay men are planning to travel to new york over the next several weeks and think they may have partners from new

york city, they should be aware of this and talk to their provides about potentially getting a vaccine before they travel. >> reporter: meningococcal disease is a severe bacterial infection spread by contact of secretions of someone from the nose or mouth with the disease, with kissing, sexual or intermatt contact, coughing on sneezing. intimate contact. it's recommended for middle and high school students and students in dorms. >> anybody at risk particularly homosexuals. >> reporter: travel agent knows how easy it is for infections to get around. >> frankly, i'm considering getting it myself even though i don't have any plans to go to new york. i mean, it seems to me that, you know, with the way travel goes these days, anything that's happening in new york is going to spread to this area pretty quickly. >> reporter: even if meningococcal disease is diagnosed early and treated with antibiotics it can still sometimes lead to permanent brain damage, hearing loss,

kidney failure even death. that's why preventing the infection by getting vaccinated is so important. >> take it seriously. >> reporter: there have been four fatalities from this in new york. >> okay. thank you. we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,, you won't take my life.

you won't take our future.

aids affects us all. even babies. chevron is working to stop mother-to-child transmission. our employees and their families are part of the fight. and we're winning. at chevron nigeria, we haven't had a reported case in 12 years. aids is strong. aids is strong. but we are stronger. and aids... ♪ aids is going to lose. aids is going to lose. ♪ for the 6:00 news. it's been the biggest thorni apple's i'm dana king. here's what we're working on for the 6:00 news. it has been the biggest thorn in apple's side. not its electronics but where they are made. tonight the cupertino company's major manufacturing change.

plus... >> six months ago i never thought i would be here where i am now. >> a bay area cooking class for wounded war veterans. how food helps them find hope and healing. those stories and more at 6:00. >> great program. dana, see you in 30 minutes. >> "cbs evening news with scott pelley" is next. >> remember, the latest news and weather are always on cbssf.com captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com >> pelley: tonight, would america go to war in syria? the u.s. is spying on the ictator's chemical weapons. there's new intelligence on that and word that syria may be losing its best ally. david martin at the pentagon, margaret brennan with hillary clinton, and elizabeth palmer a rare look inside the war. >> reporter: in the hospital's intensive care unit, the men can't speak but their injuries do. >> pelley: today, the first